A New Collaborative Effort for Biomimetic-Based Research on Thermoregulatory Behavior of Stabilized Soils

这项建议是为了促进与英国诺丁汉大学的马修·霍尔教授的一项新的合作努力，以模拟人/动物皮肤中的血管网络等生物系统，并将稳定的土壤作为温度调节建筑元素。霍尔教授是研究稳定土壤的领军人物，他拥有研究土壤湿热行为所需的独特设施。他的团队进行的研究开启了工程稳定土壤来控制其湿热特性的可能性。皮尔？S教授最近在仿生学方面的工作与霍尔？S教授对稳定土湿热行为的研究相辅相成，两者的结合将为这一主题的长期研究带来协同价值。这种新的合作努力的智力价值在于如何通过使用植物纤维对土样进行仿生设计来将稳定土的被动温度调节行为转变为主动行为。通过了解皮肤微循环使组织和血液温度之间的差异得以协调，并通过操纵热量产生和损失调节身体核心温度，稳定的土壤将被设计成模仿高度进化的皮肤系统。非技术解释由CNIC项目促进的新的科学方向将在三个方面产生广泛的影响：i)它将为使用天然材料(土壤和植物为基础)的工程建设的可持续实践发展一个正式的基础，ii)它将模仿生物系统的能量效率来将土壤作为主动的温度调节器，以及iii)它将为工程学教育开辟一个新的跨学科的维度。

a technical description This proposal is to catalyze a new collaborative effort with Prof. Matthew Hall of the University of Nottingham, UK, to imitate biological systems such as vascular network in human/animal skin and engineer stabilized soils as thermoregulatory building elements. Prof Hall is a leading researcher on stabilized soils, who has access to unique facilities required to study hygrothermal behavior of soils. Research conducted by his group has opened up the possibility of engineering stabilized soils to control their hygrothermal properties. The PI?s recent work on biomimetics and Prof Hall?s research on hygrothermal behavior of stabilized soils complement each other, and together they would bring synergistic value to long-term research on this theme.The intellectual merit of this new collaborative effort lies in how a passive thermoregulatory behavior of stabilized soil could be transformed to an active behavior through biomimetic design of soil samples using plant fibers. Through an understanding of the microcirculation in skin enabling the differences between tissue and blood temperatures to be reconciled, and regulation of body core temperature through manipulation of heat production and losses, stabilized soil will be engineered to mimic the highly-evolved skin systems.a non-technical explanation The new scientific direction facilitated by this CNIC project will have broad impact in three dimensions: i) it will develop a formal basis for the sustainable practice of engineering construction using natural materials (soil- and plant-based), ii) it will imitate the energy efficiency of biological systems to engineer soils as active thermoregulators, and iii) it will open up a new interdisciplinary dimension to engineering education.